Brady breezes past Putintseva to reach first grand slam semi-final
● American thrilled to make the last four as she outclasses her Kazakh opponent ● Williams into her 16th quarter-final
Jennifer Brady cruised into her first grand slam semi-final at the US Open with a comfortable straight-sets win over Yulia Putintseva.
The 28th-seeded American never surrendered her advantage after charging into an immediate double break lead and needed just over an hour to wrap up a 6-3, 6-2 win.
Brady, who beat former champion Angelique Kerber in the previous round, is yet to drop a set in the tournament and, in the last four, she will play either fourth seed Naomi Osaka or compatriot Shelby Rogers, who were scheduled to play their quarter-final late last night.
Brady, who was beaten in both her previous meetings with the Kazakh, said: “I felt like today I was a lot more aggressive off the first ball.
“I came out with nerves, obviously, and I think she did too because it’s our first quarterfinal, but I just tried to treat it like any other match.
“I was happy with the way I started and I was able to keep that momentum and build off that. I’m thrilled to be in the semi-finals of the US Open.”
The 25-year- old Brady had shown signs of promising form when the sport resumed last month and she won her first tour title in Kentucky. And her strong, front-foot game was too much for Putintseva, who cut a frustrated figure after flopping in her opening two service games and subsequently the first set.
Dictating most of the action off her strong first serve, Brady broke again at the start of the second much to frustration of the Kazakh, who hurled her rack et to the court. A rare moment of success saw Pu tints eva break back but Rogers responded immediately and ultimately coasted into the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Serena Williams ensured history did not repeat itself as she battled to a fourthround victory over Maria Sakkari to reach the quarterfinals for the 16th time.
In a compelling contest, Williams recovered from a break down in the deciding set to defeat 15th seed Sakkari 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3.
Her side of the draw later opened up as second seed and Australian Op en champion Sofia Kenin was sent packing by Elise Mertens.
Williams lost to Sakkari on the same courts in the Western &Southern Open last week from a set and a break up and went into the year’s second grand slam with major question marks about her form.
Discussing her recent tendency to let opponents off the hook, Williams said: “It’s like dating a guy that you know sucks. That’s literally what I keep doing out here. It’s like I have got to get rid of this guy. It just makes no sense.”
That guy was heading in through the restaurant door when Williams lost the second set on a tie-break and made a poor start to the decider, just as she had last week, but this time he was sent straight home again.
“It was just one point here, one point there, and I feel this whole tournament I have been doing better with that,” said the third seed. “Thank God I got rid of that guy. Never want to see him again. ”
Williams’ opponent in the last eight will beTsve tan a Pi ronkova,w ho defeated France’s Alize Cornet 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3.